System for substantially eliminating insect infestation in cars, bins and the like



' Oct. 2a, 1958 F. s. BISHOP 2,857,630 SYSTEM FOR SUBSTANTIALLY ELIMINATING mssc'r INFESTATION m CARS, BINS AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 9, 1955 INVENTOR. FRHNK S. B/sHap BY wand/"m, 5mm

HTTORNEYG United States Patent SYSTEM FOR SUBSTANTIALLY ELIMINATING iDIIISECT INFESTAT'ION IN CARS, BINS AND THE Frank S. Bishop, Minneapolis, Minn. Application December 9, 1955, Serial No. 552,209

5 Claims. (Cl. 20-4) This invention relates to the substantial prevention of insect infestation and colonization in boxcars, trucks and bins utilized for the shipment and storage of various food products such as grain, milled products, fruit and prepared foods.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my oo- 21, 1950 (but now abandoned).

For many years, millers, bakers, flour and grain shippers and prepared food manufacturers have been concerned with the colonization of insect infestation in boxcars, other transportation vehicles and bins wherein grain, milled products, fruits and other food stuffs were committed for hauling or temporary storage.

In recent years, fumigation, residual type sprays and other metnods have been tried in an effort to combat infestation and colonization of insects and larvae. One recent advancement made in boxcars has been the crea tion of a grain channel between the liner or inner wall construction usually formed from flooring and the outer walls of the car by removal of the bottom board or boards at the side of the car, enabling the accumulated grain dust or other organic material to be blown downwardly and swept from the areas on the sides of the car. Thereafter, before vuse, the car could be fumigated with a residual type spray.

The foregoing improvement however, was impossible to carry out on the car ends since on most commercial boxcars, the end liner boards are applied in a vertical.

position with the nailing stripe running in a horizontal position behind the end liner and the actual end walls of the car are usually constructed of corrugated steel furnishing rather deep grooves or recesses forming an ideal lodging place for flour dust, solid grain and organic material which sifts through the wood liner. A vast amount of material due to flexing and jolting of the cars in travel accumulated in such spaces at the end of the car and since this material is behind the wood liner to the interior of the car and the inside face of the corrugated steel end, is not readily removable because it cannot be reached by air or sweeping or by any practical fumigating or spraying treatment.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simple, comparatively inexpensive but highly efiicient method of filling the space behind the liners of boxcars, other transportation vehicles and storage bins for grain, milled prodnets and food stuffs which will substantially exclude the penetration thereof by comminuted organic material and insects and which will further provide a medium and barrier of densely matted, resilient fibers through which insects such as grain beetles, carpet beetles, grain borer, weevils and meal worms cannot pass, said barrier immobilizing and hence leading to the starvation of insects if the same can penetrate the outermost layer of the barrier.

Another object is the provision of a physical system or apparatus for carrying out the prevention of colonization of insects and larvae which is adapted for ready installapending application, Serial Number. 169,453, filed June tion in boxcars, trucks and bins or containers having liners.

Still another object is the provision of a methodand I apparatus which utilize for an insect barrier, a mass composed of myriads of highly elastic fibers positioned and tensioned to form a meshwork or tangle whereby few individual fibers can move without changing strain values.

ization of strain pressures is brought about resulting in such a dense meshwork that insects of the class described cannot penetrate the barrier and if they attempt to do.

so, will be immobilized or injured, resulting in death.

More specifically, it is an object to provide a method and apparatus of the class described wherein the available lodging and nesting spaces for infestation insects and their larvae are completely filled by a dense matting of very resilient or elastic, relatively hard, fibrous material having in the matted structure, myriads of sharp cutting or piercing ends which cut or prick the sensitive portions including joints of insects such as weevils, worms, beetles and the like, thereby causing subsequent loss of fluid vital to insect life. My method and apparatus further includes the compression and maintenance of the filler mass in a relatively dense, elastic state under tension.'

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the interior of a railroad boxcar looking in the direction of one of the ends thereof which has installed thereon my improved systems, portions of the successive layers of liner, filler material, nailing strips and coating being successively broken away to show the successive steps of my method;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary view section similar to Fig. 2, taken on a much larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a microscopic cross section view taken through a fragment of the matted fibrous filler material prior to compression and installation thereof;

Fig. 5 is a perspective'view of a roll of the matted fibrous material before cutting and application to the ends of the boxcar; and

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a strip of the fibrous material cut for insertion in one of the corrugations of a box,- car end. 7 I

As shown in the drawings, my method and apparatus is applied to one of the ends of the boxcar although it will be understood that if desired, application may be made to the sides, ceiling and floor of the car although this is not necessary in railroad cars to obtain my desired results. The car illustrated in Fig. l is provided with the usual floor F and side liner boards L which usually are in the form offlooring tongued and grooved for tight connection between the horizontally disposed members.

The end of the boxcar illustrated, is of the usualconventional structure comprising a heavy steel sheet S provided with horizontal corrugations 6 which are arranged as shown in the upper portion of Fig. l and include com plementary corrugations 6a extending inwardly from the Patented Oct. 28, 1958' ture causesa breathing action which materially assists.

the penetration of dust particles, insect larvae and small insects through the cracks between the joints of the verticallliner sections...

My system, preferably but not necessarily, includest upon-thednnerrcorrugatedisurface ofthelcar ortbin end, andifldesired uponttheiside wall; ceilingzand floor con struction, arelatively'thick coating of asphalt: emulsion A.

ofasticky nature whichzacts as a;protection against corrosionvand a deterent touthe possible passage of -insects.

behind the later appliedfiller material.

While :this coatingrwh'ich.completelycovers .the wall to be ;protected.is still adhesivein nature, I apply= thereto a complete covering onlthe inside ofthecar or bin of 1 densely matted, highly resilient, relatively. hard fibrous.

material such as afibrousglass. Fibrous glass of the type employedofresilient, fine-and relatively longfibers has formly fill a predetermined space forming a dense, tangled I I relatively long fibers; obtained through the dry spinning of slag and dolemite lime-has.

meshwork. Elastic,

been foundxhighly satisfactory. The slag used usually is obtained from blastifurnaces as a waste product i and in its manufacture for the purposes of my invention, is dryspunandintermatted into a flexible blanket which: must be rather denselyicompres'sed for my purposes. The materialusedipreferably shouldhave in addition to relatively long,.resilient,fibers, the provision ofmyriads of sharp ends or pointed extremities which are present throughout the massandat the external surfaces of the filler. Such fibrous, highly resilient. materials are available in the form of blankets usually obtainable in rolls with a strip of paper separating the convolutions and rolled therewith under tension and ordinarily in loose form before being compacted, having a density approximating three pounds to the cubic foot. in unrolled and uncompressed state, has a thickness varying between two to six inches but through the inherent nature of the material, may be compressed to a dense thickness of as little as-lessthan one half inch.

The rolls, to facilitate handling and attachment thereof are of:a convenient width, for example, 24 inches and may becut to length for the width of the standard boxcars which in many instances is approximately 117 inches.

Boxcars' areordinarily equipped with spaced nailing or -fillerstrips 8 which may be bolted or otherwise secured within three, four or more of the spaced corrugations at the-insideof the'car, said strips ordinarilycbeingboards which are disposed horizontally in parallel relation and fill the greater part of the respective corrugations in which theyare applied.

Incarrying out my method and utilizing my system after preferably (not necessarily) applyingthe-asphalt coating A to the steel end of the car (interior surface) strips approximately 8 inches wide of the full thickness ofth'e material (preferably precut) are applied and stuffed intothe unfilled corrugations from the interior of the car.

The resiliency of the fibrous, wholly intermatted materials are; such that these strips willretain their positions until the nextstep of -my method is carried out.

Next, a blanket Y'of the said fibrous, resilient material is carefully laid transversely across the interior of the car endand may: be smoothly disposed and tacked at spaced intervals for-preliminary retention by use of shingle nails or large headed roofing nails and traversing the width of the car end. Thereafter, additional blankets are disposed in close abutment to those previously attached until the "interior of'theend of the car is completely covered with the fibrous material, the blanketsor fibrousmaterial oft-course covering thenailing strips and narrow, fibrous strips-X.

Such a roll is illustrated in Fig. and

The liner boards 7 usually disposed vertically are then interfitted, applied to and nailed or screwed to the respective nailing strips.

In doing this, the closely intermatted, highly resilient fibrous material is materially compressed to the extent that after vibration of the car through travel, the density of the fibrous material is increased over four-fold, often being as high as 15 to 16 pounds per cubic foot. The liner boards are applied in the manner of flooring, wedge or fastening the last two or three strips or encavingthe tongues or grooves and thereafter forcing the strips inwardly and slightly angularly to precisely fill the remaining space at one side of the car end.

Because of the inherent, highly resilient and expansive nature of the particular fibrous materials utilized, all space and all recesses rearwardly of the smooth-faced liner are filled and pressure on the material becomes uniform due to the high mobility and elastic natureof the intermatted fibers.

It is very essential that unlike the use-of fibrous material in insulation, there be no 'vapor seal orsheet between the compressed barrier blanket and the liner boards or the corrugated steel end of the structure.

The blanket becomes a highly efiicientfilter and. barrier and breathes through vibrationon the car in transit.

In fact, evenwhen the car is not under motion, the stress on the individual fibers is such thatthere is constant mobility of the fibers with the resultthatdust, larvae and insects, if the samepenetratebetween the joined edges of the linerboards, are entrapped as in a web and the insects subjected to the damage and cutting of the hard, resilient fibers and the relatively sharp ends thereof. =The compression of the material of course brings into closer relation the interpositioning of myriads of hard fiber endsas well as the proximity of the individual, intermatted fibers longitudinally.

Glass fibers and relatively long fibers made by'spinning mineral such as slag have been found ideal products for my particular purposes. After the blankets are applied or tensioned or compressed, as previously stated vibration ormobility of the fibers, due to sonic vibrations, jarring or travel of the car or him cause the fibers to become mobile and move to positions of lesser tensions Since the meshwork is a thorough tangle of relatively long fibers, few individualfibers canmove without changing strain values of other fibers. The resultof the summation of the tendency ofeach fiber to move to a position of 1 lower stress is of course thatthe pad or mass increases in size and since in mystructure and method the pad is: compressed and has only a limited; space in which -to move, the end result is :the complete filling-of all'available space including cracks between the liner boardsand equalization of strain pressuresthroughout thepath and this will be a continuing process with subsequent vibrations, jars and temporary displacements. The fibrousglass has high value of elasticity and relativelysmoothsurfaces making the overall resiliency great. Insects which attempt to. penetrate the barrier become incased in a cell or compartmentof fibrous glass web which will immobilize the insect until it starves.

Inspection of :cars provided with my systemafter con tinuous use for substantially a years time show that the compressed filler material is penetrated by fiourdust and'fine organic matter only at the surface next to the board car liner and for perhaps an 8th of an inch to t 01? aninch inwardly thereof, the action of the dust= in the densely matted fibers serving to clog the thin: stratum next to the liner boards to prevent further passage of finely comminuted organic material towards the end of the car. compressed, elastic filler material adhered to the asphalt coating on the interior surface of the metal end wall of the 'car acts as -a barrier to fine dust and comminuted organic material.

In this connection, it is desirable to utilize a material.

Thus, with my method and apparatus, the

the tongue and groove interstices of the liner.

which is relatively non-hygroscopic and which is so intermatted that it will not settle with the jolting and shocks a railroad car incurs in travel. It is of course clearly understood that the blanket fibrous material must have loose intermatted fibers rather than a blanket or batt where any resinous material is used to partially connect or bond the fibers together. Mobility of the individual fibers as recited, when under compression and subjected to vibration, is a very essential factor of the invention.

Where hereafter in the claims, the term glass fibrous material or glass fibers is utilized, it definitely in cludes blankets of material spun from silaceous materials such as furnace slag and the like where the spinning produceshighly resilient individual fibers of at least medium length and where no resinous material is employed, to bond or partially bond the fibers together.

Any insect such as grain borer, flour beetles, red rust beetles, larvae or worms which may pass through the interstices between the joints of the liner boards '7 are enmeshed and trapped in a web of the dense, mobile fibers and will be injured, confined and die at the exterior portion of the barrier.

As previously recited, due to the various vibrations to which the barrier is subjected an actual filter system is provided which of the dense, intermatted nature, excludes and/ or picks up on the surface area of the liner, any few insects and larvae which may penetrate between However, due to the highly expansive and mobile nature, the actual fibrous material in a short time, expands to actually fill such interstices in the liner boards.

In actual use in several thousands of railroad boxcars my improved system has been effective to prevent in such installations, any passage of insects, larvae through the barrier to the steel corrugated ends of the car. Many cars have been inspected and the liners and barrier partially removed and in every such instance where the installation was made in accordance with my invention, there was no penetration of insect larvae or worms through such barrier. Furthermore, the barrier positively excluded penetration of fine dust, dirt and other material.

Scientific examination of insects and barriers where my system has been carried out, leads me to believe that in addition to the webbed immobilizing of the insects, the extremities and individual fibers damage the thinly chitinized, articulations of the insects at the joints, causing escape of body fluids which are vital to insect life.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that I have provided a simple and highly efilcient method and system for substantially preventing colonization and breeding of insects in transportation cars, bins, trucks and the like where grain, milled products and other food stuffs and mixtures are contained for transportation and storage. My system and method provides a highly efircient, tensioned, resilient, fibrous barrier producing through mobility of the loose fibers, filtering action for dust and dirt and positively causing immobilizing and trapping of insects and larvae.

It will of course be understood that ,various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An insect destroying barrier, said barrier comprising fixed spaced and rigid supporting bodies of substantial surface area and a densely matted stratum of resilient unbonded mobile fibers of siliceous material, said stratum of material being disposed over and between the opposing surface areas of the supporting bodies and being evenly compressed throughout the entire extent of said opposing areas to at least three times its original density before compression of approximately 3 pounds to the cubic foot whereby the fibers are tensioned and at the same time have a degree of relative mobility for effecting encasement, immobilization and destruction of any insect larvae attempting to penetrate through the stratum.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the said fibers are glass and are relatively long and include myriads of sharp extremities which function in the destruction of insect larvae by puncturing the thinly chitinized articulations of the insects.

3. The method of forming an insect destroying barrier, said method comprising providing a first wall member, applying over one side face thereof a mat of resilient unbonded mobile fibers of siliceous material having a density as applied of approximately 3 pounds to the cubic foot, fixing the mat in the applied position on the wall member, then placing over and against the mat a second wall forming member and coupling the latter member t0. the first member in a spacial relation with the first member such as to compress the entire area of the mat to a density approximately three times the'said density of the mat as applied to the first wall member.

4. The method of forming an insect destroying barrier, said method comprising providing a first rigid Wall member, applying over one side face thereof a mat of resilient unbonded mobile fibers of siliceous material having a density as applied of approximately 3 pounds to the cubic foot, fixing the mat in the applied position on the wall member, then placing over and in direct contact with the mat a second rigid wall member of a material capable of transmitting air or vapor and coupling the latter' member to the first member in a special relation with the first member such as to compress the entire area of themat to a density approximately three times the said density of the mat as applied to the first wall member.

5. A method of barring passage through and entrapping and destroying insects in a structure subject to insect infestation and subjected to vibration and which structure embodies spaced wall members, which method comprises covering the inner surface of one of said members with a blanket of closely matted loose siliceous fibers having a.

density of approximately 3 pounds per cubic foot and which fibers are discrete tohave free movement relative to one another, and then placing the other wall member against the fiber blanket and compressing the blanket throughout its entire area by said other wall member between the wall members to a density of at least three times the original density thereof and securing the wall members together to retain the blanket under such increased density and the fibers in tensioned movable relation whereby vibrations to which the structure may be subjected effect movement of the fibers to positions of lesser tension and continue such mobility to encase, immobilize anddestroy insects and larvae endeavoring to enter the barrier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,980,754 Henning et a1 Nov. 13, 1934 2,160,001 Saborsk'y May 30, 1939 2,174,988 Lundvall Oct. 3, 1939 

